<p>2006 Visit (cross-posted):</p>
<p>I'm in trouble now - D loved Vassar. It's an absolutely beautiful campus, and everyone was extremely friendly. She loved the fact that most classes are discussion based and interactive, rather than lecture. Our tour guide told us that his Intro Bio class had 18 students, which is extremely rare in other schools as far as I can tell. As with Skidmore, she loved that anyone can take anything.</p>
<p>One story - Vassar's website says that visitors can sit in on a class with 7-10 days' notice. D wanted to take a dance class but not alone. On Sunday, we finalized plans for a friend to come with her, and she would take the class. On Monday (President's Day), I called Admissions and asked if they could take the class. They said no, professors really want 10 days notice. I said fine, but can they watch one? They said they didn't know and I should call the Dance Department directly. I did and asked if they could watch a class. The woman on the other end of the phone said, "Sure, but don't they want to take one?" So I set it up for them to take an Intermediate Ballet class, which as it turns out was taught by a guest instructor, the director of the ABT Studio company! It was above their level, but the girls enjoyed it. It was particularly nice for them to know that they could learn and improve there, given that there is no dance major at Vassar. We also met with the associate professor of the department who was very nice to the girls and answered all sorts of questions - he really was selling the department to us!</p>
<p>The dance department is moving into renovated quarters in May, which will then include 3 totally renovated studios, and a large theater specifically designed and designated for dance. The new space certainly looks beautiful on paper.</p>
<p>The other girl with us is a singer and wanted to know about the voice program, which wasn't mentioned much during the tour. We walked into the Music department and stood around near an office where the professor was on the phone. He saw us, and after a few minutes told the person on the other end that there were visitors, so he'd call back. The professor was the head of the Music Department, and spent a good 10 minutes with us and another prospect answering questions. Totally unexpected. He was extremely gracious. And it didn't hurt that the department is housed in a castle!</p>
<p>According to all the kids we spoke to (including those in the dance class and others not giving tours), there are a lot of activities on campus. There are 120 official clubs on campus, and each club is required to host one all-campus activity each semester. That's 240 things to do right off the bat, and many have more activities.</p>
<p>Vassar has no merit scholarships and is not need-blind, although it does guarantee 100% of demonstrated need if accepted. (By the way, both Brandeis and Skidmore are also need-sensitive, which Brandeis explained this way: When they get down to the "maybe" candidates, they will look at the financial obligation the college would face when making the admission decisions.) </p>
<p>Vassar has ED I (11/15) and ED II (1/1). It admits about 40% of its early decision applicants and 22% of its regular decision applicants.</p>
<p>While we're going to continue looking, Vassar is now #1 on the list.</p>